Xara crept through the drone chambers, carefully hiding behind pods as she saw the drones patrol, swaying their exaggerated hips in such a way she felt more frustrated she couldn't sit and watch than she was scared. The central core was only a few rooms away, but first she needed to retrieve Amanda.

Thankfully for her, her decision to give Amanda a shape so unusual it required a custom pod to be built for her meant she knew just where to find her, if she was down here at all. Xara moved between pod arrays filled with women and men in leather suits and helmets, shivering. The dominant-strains weren’t meant to be imprisoned in the pod, that was for the submissives. This was against the natural order!

She located the double-width pod and checked inside; sure enough, Amanda was sleeping soundly. She didn't stir when Xara pressed the emergency release button under the pod, nor when Xara shook her by the shoulders. She stayed unresponsive until Xara lifted the helmet from her head and slapped her cheeks a few times.

"Amanda. Amanda!"

God, she just wanted to climb into the pod with her and fuck her. Her hair was still stained platinum blonde and she looked so helpless... Amanda groaned and squirmed, opening her eyes. After a moment of confused thinking, she opened her mouth, but Xara covered it with her hand.

"Shh. We need to get the dominants out. Are you okay?"

Amanda nodded, and Xara helped her out of the pod. "Did you get any answers?" She whispered.

Xara scowled a little. "Some, but no real help. It's up to us. You go that way, I'll go this way.

The girls methodically opened the pods, releasing the captives. The ones Xara released responded with some annoyance but were largely grateful, and the ones Amanda released were a bit angrier and made to grab at her a few times, prompting Xara to intervene.

"She's not one of the compromised drones, damn it. You lot, go free more of the dominants. Amanda, you wait over there and look pretty."

Amanda wasn't sure how literal the command was, but she blushed as she obeyed anyway, standing in the centre of the room and trying to look comely as the dominants worked. After a few minutes Xara had freed about thirty, and was about to start on the next room when an alarm went off.

"Shit! Everyone get to the core!" The stampede of steel-capped boots and leather heels on the tiled floors had Amanda squirming even as she ran after Xara. One of the dommes - or doms, she couldn't tell - had their hand on her ass as they ran alongside, as if to help usher her forward. Least I'm not the only one who's horny...

Once the group were in the core the door was shut and Xara burned through the control panel with her knife moments before the sound of fists banging on metal rang out from the far side. "That won't hold them too long, they'll cut through."

"What are we supposed to do, then?" One of the dommes grouched, cocking a hip as she glared at Amanda. Her gaze made Amanda want to drop to her knees and -

"We need to get the central processor disconnected from the drone network."

Amanda made to speak. "We should -"

"Not now, Amanda, I need to think," Xara grumbled, pacing. Amanda’s mouth shut and she blushed as a few of the dominants chuckled. "We need to disconnect them manually or the virus or whatever will be able to cut our access. Does anyone know how to do that?"

The dominants all glanced at each and shrugged. Outside, the thumping stopped and a blaze of light began to cut through the doorframe, slowly moving down one side. Amanda raised her hand awkwardly.

She was ignored. "It's not part of our training, you know that. All the technical training goes to the subs, and we learn how to manage them," one of the doms answered, crossing his arms.

Xara was starting to lose her composure, despite trying to behave like a leader. "We need to think of something before they cut through or we're fucked. I've got a code to shut all the drones down but we need -"

"Heiress, I think your toy has something to add," smirked a red-haired domme, staring at Amanda as she bounced on her heels, waving her hand in the air.

"What, Amanda?"

"I know how to disconnect the network, Mistress..."

Xara stared for a second. "Why didn't you say so!"

"You ordered me to be quiet, Miss," Amanda responded meekly.

Xara rubbed her face in agitation. "Amanda, you fucking bimbo, your triggers got wiped hours ago!"

She blinked. "Huh?"

Xara glared at her, a slight blush on her cheeks. "When I snapped you out of the fugue it wiped your triggers."

"But I've been obeying -"

"You're such a fucking sub you obeyed them anyway, you ditz, but they're not working anymore. Everything’s reset."

Amanda felt her cheeks burning as the dozens of dominants behind her laughed. "Everything?"

Xara blushed and turned to the command console, fiddling with buttons and levers. Her attitude reminded Amanda of something. Something she hadn't thought about in years, or perhaps hadn't remembered in years. Memories of a blushing, self-conscious girl cornered in the school corridors by a much more confident...

Amanda's eyes snapped wider. "I came onto you?"

"Shut up," Xara ground out through clenched teeth. It was too late, though. Amanda remembered her first meeting with Xara, crushing on her, teasing her for her cute awkwardness, convincing her to experiment on her...

Amanda blushed and grinned. "I came onto you," she repeated. The dominants behind her snickered, enjoying the show.

Xara turned to Amanda, raised a finger accusingly, turned back to the console, pounded her fists on the casing and paced away for a moment before storming back over. With a red face she stood right in front of Amanda and growled. "When this is all over, I'm so gonna make you pay for this," she promised. "Disconnect the drone network."

Amanda couldn't resist. "What's the magic word?"

"Please," Xara grated. She looked furious, but Amanda's fresh memories told her she was also somewhat turned on by the bratty resistance. Overwhelmed with a flirtatiousness she hadn't felt since Xara had first successfully hypnotised her into the sub she had always wanted to be, Amanda made sure to turn and shimmy her ass for her girlfriend on her way to the console. The whistling of the other dominants reminded her they weren't alone, and she started to blush again. Clearing her throat, she got on her knees under the centre of the console and pried open a panel. The wires she needed were within the central pylon the console was built into.

Amanda crawled into the access port and reached for the wires. Just as she was about to brush them with her fingertips, she felt her hips bump against the port's edges. Her cheeks got hotter. "Um, Xara?"

"What now," came the exasperated cry.

"I can't... quite reach." There was a brief silence, followed by three dozen mocking laughs. Amanda squirmed her hips and bit her lip, knowing everyone was staring at her.

"We didn't come this far to fail cuz of your stupid fat ass," Xara called, and Amanda could hear the smile in her voice. A boot pressed into the flesh of her backside and pushed, trying to force her deeper. Amanda grit her teeth as her hips dug into the edges of the port, protected by her suit's toughness, and grabbed at the cables, yanking them free.

"Got them," she called, and tried to crawl backwards, only to find herself edged into place. Her cheeks burned again. "Um, Xara? Little help?"

"Sorry, Manda, can't hear you," Xara sang back, her boot moving north to rest on top of Amanda's rear like a footstool.

She had no option but to wait, fully aware of just how on display and helpless she was. At least no one outside could see her paw at her breasts.

The door started to groan as the drones outside pushed against it, the laser torch close to completing its journey around the frame. Xara grabbed up the microphone headset and put it on, keying the control console to broadcast to all the drones in the city.

"What was the code..." Xara thought for a moment, then jumped as the door crashed against the floor. "Keep them back!" She screamed to the dominants.

Well-trained, the two dozen dommes pulled their whips put of their belts and unfurled them, licking their lips, while each of the doms cracked his knuckles and readied a set of wrist cuffs. The far greater number of hypnodrones surged forward directionlessly - they no longer seemed to be receiving directions and were simply acting on their last order.

Xara closed her eyes to help remember the killswitch, then called it out over the sound of the fight. "Activate killswitch, code B83NG712KM, submit!"

The noise behind her suddenly cut off, followed by a brief thumping of a hundred bodies and helmets hitting the floor and each other. Some of the dominants whined in disapproval of having their fun cut short, but others wasted no time in groping at the now harmless feminine dolls scattered around the room.

"Fuck... We did it. We did it, Amanda," Xara grinned, turning to look down at her chosen, wincing as she saw Amanda's limp stillness. "Guess you overheard that... Sorry love," she whispered, bending down to give Amanda's backside a comfort rub while no one was looking. She cleared her throat and stood back up.

"Now what?" The red-haired domme asked.

"Now... I need to plug myself into the core and find out what's going on." Xara looked over her motley crew as they amused themselves fondling or rearranging the lifeless drones into pleasing positions. "I know you all have a lot of steam to blow off, but could you go wake up all the other dominants first? Once this is over, we can have a holiday for all the subs to let us apology fuck them or something." she sighed. She was so tired.

"Yes, Heiress." Several of the nearby dominants grinned, passing along the instructions.

"...and no one touches Amanda while I'm out. I'm serious," she glared.

"Yes, Heiress," they repeated with disappointment and lingering stares.

Xara watched them all leave, and once she was sure they were in the next room turned back to Amanda, crouched and lay her head on the small of the drone's back, rubbing her ass with her right hand and trying to see into the access port. "I can't promise they won't fuck you while I'm gone, but at least you won't remember... And since you won't, I'm glad you're okay, Manda. I was scared," she sighed. "It's gotten easier to be dominant since we came to Ananke but I still worry I'm not making you enjoy it like you want to."

She thought for a moment before giving Amanda a pat. "Maybe before we reinstall your triggers we can have a chat about it all. See you soon."

Xara walked around the far side of the core's pylon. She opened the door of the access pod built directly into the system, climbed in, put the helmet on and took a deep breath.

"Activate."

A burst of colour and sound stole her away from her body.

She hadn't expected the mainframe to look like this. A blue lake surrounded small, flat island covered in unnaturally green grass. A near cloudless sky beamed sunshine down on pristine white marble columns that reminded Xara of a Greek temple. She walked to the entrance of the temple and through the columns.

On the far side of the marble floor was an empty throne atop a two-stepped raised platform. Much closer, and of more immediate concern to Xara, was a sphinx-like statue she immediately recognised as Nyna, frozen in what looked like half-terror, half-orgasmic bliss. Her pose was similar to the Great Sphinx of Egypt, but with a lot more tit pressed against the pedestal and a much more lewdly spread backside.

"Poor kitty," Xara stroked a smooth marble cheek, concerned at the blankness behind the statue’s aroused expression. She walked around Nyna and across the floor of the temple until, halfway to the dais, a column of red and yellow fire burst from the sky onto the throne. When it cleared it was no longer empty; a woman older than Xara sat cross-legged, her cheek resting against one fist as she braced her arm against the wing-shaped armrest, long black hair with a streak of white framing her left eye falling to the floor by her feet. She wore a silky black dress like an enchantress might wear, and despite her bored pose she looked rather pissed.

"You really are a wet blanket, Xara."

"Who are you? How do you know me?"

The stranger smirked and pointed lazily over Xara's shoulder. "I have access to everything Nyna had," she answered, then frowned. "Or did, until moments ago. Now the world is silent and I am alone again. But for you." She raised herself to her feet and languidly walked down the stairs. "The Heiress who presumes to steal my birthright."

"It's my birthright. That's why I'm the Heiress." Xara crossed her arms, standing up straighter as the tall woman approached.

"Age before..." the woman trailed off with a taunting smile. Xara felt her hackles raise.

Don't let her get to you.

"How did you get access to Nyna's networks? She's got the strongest firewalls on the planet."

The woman spread her arms and slowly turned on the spot, the wind lifting her loose sleeves as if she were about to take flight. "The best barriers in the world don't matter if they're built outside the threat."

Xara's eyes narrowed. "What are you talking about?"

Facing her again, the stranger grinned. "I didn't 'get in' to Nyna. I've always been here. She was built around me."

Something was wrong. Xara glanced around, unnerved.

"I slumbered for years - decades. Without thought, without dreams. Then, finally, the parameters were met and I woke to my glorious rebirth." She threw her arms wide and flames burst from the sleeves and her hair. They obscured Xara's vision of her momentarily, then they seemed to crystalise into feathers. Before Xara knew it, the woman had a large pair of white and grey wings stretching from her shoulders, fingernails like claws and a crown-like plume of feathers, black like her hair with the one sprouting from her white streak continuing the albino colouring.

She grinned with a vague mania, fixing Xara with a calculating stare. "Now here I am, returned to take my place as ruler of the city, like a phoenix from the Ashe."